Happy Birthday Mom

Hey everyone!!

I hope you all had great weeks!!! I really Don't have a lot to report to this week but I will try to fill you guys all in!!! Also, today is moms bday!!! So I hope you are all super nice to her for me, and that you can feel how much I love you mom!!!!!!!

So as I said this week was pretty slow, haha we have had a pretty exciting couple of weeks before this one so it was kind of nice to slow down for a little bit! So we focused on two things that our mission president told us to do! First of all he wants us teaching 40 lessons a week and everyone in our area teaches like 15 to 20 so we really stressed that and we got up to 30 this week are are hoping for 40 Second is he wants us visiting the recent converts a lot a lot a lot so of those 30 14 were with recent converts so that was pretty awesome!

So Monday literally nothing happened! No one was home after p day! Tuesday we spent a lot of time walking around in the morning but then we had some really good lessons with the Gasparlinos about reading the scriptures ans they all set different goals for how much they want to read and so far they are keeping them!!!

Then we taught an incredible lesson to Irma and Alicia that we had planned to be about the plan of salvation but then it turned into the Sabbath day and it turns out that Irma has work on Sunday but is going to ask her boss to change it so that she can come to church! So those were both awesome!

Then Wednesday we taught the most lessons of any day this week but one person didn't show up in the afternoon so we walked around for an hour and I don't know why but it just felt super long!! But we had a rougher day, we didn't get across all of the things in the lessons that we wanted to! Especially with Marcelina because she invited her sister and her sister just dominated the whole lesson!

Thursday we had intercambios again and I was over with Elder yerena in the other ward, he used to be a DL and he is an awesome guy! He put a lot of trust in me while we were over there and it felt awesome, also they have a great rep with the members over there which other missionaries in their ward haven't had in the past so I am really happy for him! So one of the pictures is of a goat haha and it is like a week old and we were talking to the owner about it and we all loved it and we were like wheres its mom, and then he directed us to the bones that we had on our plate haha so that was quite the experience!! Also the lightning McQueen shampoo...haha we had a bet that if I stayed (because I thought I wouldn't) that I had to buy and use it, so at least I have had no tears this week!!!

 

Friday was another really uneventful day except that with Azucena she had her daughter in law there with her and so we got to start teaching her too and she is really interested! 

Then Saturday, the same thing happened!! Her son was there this time and we started teaching him too!! Really cool blessings for doing what President wants!!

Also on Saturday morning we helped Javier’s neighbor sort pencil sharpeners for her job haha and now she wants to listen to us, so that was kind of cool too!! We need to recognize things like this more in our lives!!!! But yesterday was kind of hard because no one was able to come to church and it was just really depressing but then Elder Hansen and I had like a pump up planning sesh and were going to make this week so good!!!! Well that's really it, I love and miss you all!!

Elder Stout

Seahawks!!!!

Hey all,

I was so glad to hear that the Seahawks are going to the Superbowl again!!! Woohoo!!! I am sooo excited!! I really wish i could have watched that game with all of you! It sounded so absolutely crazy!!!! But hey the is the first of only 2 Superbowls that I will miss! I did the math there will only be 23 more weeks of football that I will miss phew I can do this! I hope Max had a great bday, it sounded like you all had a great time with everything!!!

So this last week was a little less eventful! First of all we met everyday with Ana and Andrea to prepare them for their baptism so that took up a lot of our time! But on Tuesday in the night time we went to a menos activo guys house, Roberto Fernandez, and it turns out his wife's bday was Monday, and Elder Hansen's was Sunday so we ate cake with them which was super cool and nice of them!!! 

Then Tuesday we had a second lesson with Marcelina and we found out that her 20 year old son passed away just a few months ago so that is super hard for her! So we taught a really powerful lesson on the plan of salvation and we were almost in tears because we could just feel the spirit of the message so strongly! Wow, I really hope that we get to help her to do the things she needs to do to see her son again some day. 

The next day I was on intercambios with Elder Neyra in his area and it was really funny because we are from the same generation so we were both still in our training and it was like weird because we are both new! Also I may or may not have gotten hit by a car while I was with him haha oops *(the yellow ones dont stop here either) Hahaha but we taught some really good lessons on the Book of Mormon, and I really saw the spirit help me because I had no idea what wed be teaching! 

Then Friday we had the interviews with Ana and Andrea for their baptism and they went awesome! Then afterwards we had a lesson with them and challenged them to take the sacrament every week for the rest of their life, and they just had a great time! 

Saturday morning was kind of awful, we have a huge area, and we haven't been up to the top of the mountain in like 3 weeks so we went up there and literally just walked around for 3 hours because everyone wasn't home haha but we had some good bonding time. I love Elder Hansen! Then we had like the most awesome baptism in the entire world! I gave the talk on baptism and then our ward mission leader Ramiro took forever to change but while we were waiting for him all of the people could just feel the spirit so strongly! 

All of our investigators that were there, especially Alicia and Irma said they just felt hermosa which I don't know what the translation is but its awesome!! Then Andrea came up to us and said I feel something right here and pointed to her heart, wow so cool! Yesterday all that really happened was the relieving news that we will not be transferring this cambio! Wow, so excited we are both staying! We have been having so much success here and loving it, and wow so cool! I am so blessed to be in a great area with a great comp for another change!

Love you all,

Elder Stout

Happy Birthday Max!

Well first of all you better all be super nice to my Little cuate Max this week for his bday!!!! I wish I could spend it with yall!!!!

So we had an incredible week this week, we are seeing the hand of the savior in literally every step of the work, it is so awesome! Tuesday we had like one of our best days yet, so in the afternoon all of our appointments fell through and so we were like well what do we do now, but then we got the prompting to visit a reference that we had received a while ago that lives close and she is pretty interested her name is Irma, but her daughter Alicia is so interested, like she is so ready for the gospel it is so awesome!!! Then we went to the GasparLino house and we taught the parents for the first time which was awesome because after this coming Saturday every kid will be a member, but I testified of having eternal families and how that is the reason I am on my mission and how I know that was restored by Joseph Smith and the spirit just exploded in the room! All of the kids were crying, I am really hoping we can get them all to be an eternal family together! Wednesday was another awesome day where we taught Ana and Andre GasparLino but then in the night we had an appointment with a menos activo named Roberto and he just like opened up to us and told us how 3 years ago he cam home from his mission early for disobedience and how he regrets that more tan anything and how he knows that he needs to change and then his wife made us an incredible lasagna so that was really really cool!!! then Thursday we had some more incredible lessons! With Armando (bishops son, menos activo) he was talking about how hard life is for him and Elder Hansen shared the scripture from the Bible about how Jesus almost didn't want to go through with all the suffering and then I shared the scripture to Joseph Smith from Liberty jail and Armando just broke down and told us that this was exactly what he needed and that every time he sees us he gets the strength to avoid temptation and all the bad in the world so that was pretty cool! Friday we had splits and I was with Elder Gamboa who is from Veracruz and it was my first time being in charge because he came to my area, and we taught every single person from the GasparLinos haha we spent all day there, and then we helped them clean up there house and cook which was super fun! Then Saturday morning Elder >Gamboa and I got to teach a  new investigator named Marcelina and she had a son who died so we talked about the plan of salvation and she says she knows that its true and wants to be baptized! So cool!!! Then Saturday night, we had like a family home evening in the GasparLino house and it was all taught by the Ward missionaries, and it was awesome we didn't have to do everything, and like every investigator we had was there, it was so cool!! Then yesterday was my comps birthday but he didn't want anyone to know so we didn't get like any special food or anything but we had a really weird experience last night where all the power from our entire town went out for like an hour, and it was just like super sketchy because it was dark everywhere, but we followed promptings and were all safe!!

I love you all, have a great week!!

Elder Stout!

Happy New Year!

Wow! 2015! It is really crzy that 2015 is already here can yall believe it?? What were your new years resolutions?? Mine is to be the best missionary that I possibly can in these next few months!! The new years eve dinner sounds awesome! i cant believe that I missed out on that! OUr new years eve was pretty good but nothing compared to that! We went over to the family Alquicira Fuentes and ate turkey, like really turkey it was so good!!! And just hung out for with them for a while because we could stay out until 10 on NYE! But we were still asleep by 1030 so we missed midnight too!! Haha we think that a better gift from our mission president would be letting us sleep in longer rather than having us stay out later!!! But who knows!

So last monday night we had an awesome family home evening with the Gaspar Lino family, and there family is just like all over the place because we had like 2 less actives there, 3 active members (2 of which are recent converts) and then 4 investigators (3 who were new) so that was really cool! But we were like in the mdidle of teaching na lesson when suddenly their neighbor who got home for her mission like that day just walked in so we just like slyly walked out hahaha but it was good for all that! Then Tuesday I had intercambios so I went across the Highway to San Pedro 2 to be with Elder Segovia who is from Ecuador ancd 26 years old but super awesome! He is also blind as a bat so he like holds his book like an inch from his face and tripped like every 20 seconds while we were walking! Haha but we had a really cool lesson with a family who really wants to get baptized and we were just fueled by the spirit the whole time it was so cool!! Then the next morning I ate carnitas for the first time here when their bishop got some from us, and they are usually really sketchy but sometimes if you find a good place they can be good because they literally just like chop up a whole pig and boil all of its parts together. But these were REALLY good!! Then the next day was just New Years Eve with the family Alquicira Fuentes and they are just so awesome, I hope you guys can be nice to the missionaries like Elder Pulini like they are to us! I was so glad to see the picture of him! Then New Years was just like Christmas in that it was an all day p day again so we like deep cleaned the house which was awesome and then ate pizza (They have a taco al pastor pizza down here!!) and then played volleyball all day! Friday was awful though because I got super sick I was just like in bed all day and throwing up and just felt so awful, all I wanted was mom or dad or someone to take care of me again! Bleh!!! But I got a preisthood blessing from our zone leader and within acouple of hours I was on the upswing! And even though I was still not feelign well I was able to go out proselyting on Saturday! We had a really good lesson with Maria de Jesus{s family but then none of them came to church so that was a bummer! But we had like 7 less actices that came to church this week so that was great!! Then so in the family GasparLino we hvae two baptismal dates and should have a third before the next time I email you! Ana is getting baptized on the 17th with her little sister Ana who is 9 years old, they are so awesome! (she drew th epicture of Elder Hansen and I) and then we are going to be meeting with the mom soon as well of the family! So we are having a lot of success here it is going awesome! Changes are in two weeks and everyone is saying that I am gonna go and I really dont want to, I am super scared to go!! But I know what ever is supposed to happen will!

 

I love you all, Happy New Year, only full year apart!

Elder Stout

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

So first of all talking to yall was like the best thing ever! I was really worried that it would make me like super sad and that it would be really hard after the fact, and yeah it did make me sad, but not like

super super sad, it actually made me like really happy which was absolutely awesome!!!!

So we had a baptism on Saturday for Azuena Ortega! It was really awesome for me because she is the first investigator that I have seen go all the way through now! My very first p day in the mission we contacted her in the street and then she got baptized! So it was so cool! Also, she asked me to baptize her! Wow! The service was really cool because we had like 30 missionaries all sing nearer my god to thee (mas cerca dios de ti) and that invited the spirit really well! Then I had to do the baptism twice because her foot came out of the water the first time and the second time she like resisted me so I had to really push her under but now she is just extra clean! Hahaha then she bore a really cool testimony about how it is hard without her familys support and everything but it was awesome, and she like even finished in the name of Jesus Christ which I have never heard a convert do! So that was the highlight of the week by far! Christmas was pretty good, we ate with a family in the morning and then another family in the afternoon, adn like their big thing here (which we ate with both families) is fish tacos which I am not a huge fan of, so whatever haha but the second family gave us ties as a present which was awesome! THen usually our p days end at 6 but christmas was different so we had p day all day and then we just went and played volleyball for like 5 hours with all the rest of the elders from around here! It was really fun but I was sore for a few days afterwards! One of the pictures is the collection of pig out day stuff Elder Hansen and I bought haha!! Something that was really weird that we all noticed is that it did not feel like CHristmas here, which kind of helped with the whole homesickness thing!! I hope you all had an incredible christmas though!!!

 

So we had some breakthroughs with investigators this week! I dont know if you remember the whole thing with Ana about how she came to church even after she dropped us that one week, but back then she still didnt want to meet with us even though she came ot church, but then this week she was there again and invited us over to teach her! So that was awesome! Then, Carlos and Maria havent been able to meet with us in forever but they finally could this week and before we could even say anything about baptism she was like so how does the 17th sound? So that is so cool! Finally Maria de Jesus is really excited about the gospel and everything but she doesnt feel comfortable in the chapel so we need to work on that so she hasnt been coming to church!

Not much else really happened this week but I am excited to start my only full year in the mission! That is crazy! And I have officially been in Mexico for 2 months so that is pretty loco as well!! I love you all, and will talk soon!!

Elder Stout